Tutors & Personal Trainers

Here are a selection of our valued Tutors & Therapists who work on courses at various periods.

Helen Smeaton– RYT 200 Certified Yoga Alliance Teacher, and Director of Not-Just-Yoga Cyprus, Helen discovered yoga 10 years ago in 2006 after moving to Cyprus to start a cycling and walking business with husband Alistair. She quickly became addicted to Vinyasa Flow and Ashtanga Yoga and soon started a dedicated daily self practice using the power of the breath to guide her.

In 2014, at the grand old age of 50, she booked herself on an intensive 200 hour three- week yoga teacher training course in Vinyasa Flow with Frog Lotus International in Spain. The intention was to deepen her own practice rather than to teach others, but she left feelingempowered and enthused to share her passion for yoga with as many people as she could reach.

Helen believes that yoga is not just about the asana, but it’s a whole way of life that can truly rejuvenate anyone who dares to immerse themselves in it. She teaches a mix of hatha and vinyasa flow style classes to students both old and young. Her key focus is on practicing yoga safely with strong attention to alignment and listening to your body at all times, using the breath to guide you through life both on and off the mat

Ashley Saunders

Ashley has been well established in Cyprus for 9 years now & has enjoyed his time on the island - he has successfully relocated there. He has over 10 years experience as a Personal Trainer. His knowledge of the industry is exceptional & he is regularly updating his portfolio of work. He has worked with many gyms and hotels on the island, over the years & has built up a coveted reputation for helping his clients to both shape up, loose weight & enhance their general health with the individual programmes he has formulated for them. He has continued training & expanding his knowledge on all related health subjects which he uses within his business. He now has many clients around the Paphos region & offers training on a 1 to 1 basis. He is ready to get you started on your new road to a new body and will give you the skills to manage a new mindset on fitness. He will be with you every step of the way & will continue to encourage on your path to transformation, once you return home. You can contact Ashley for an initial consultation. Tel:- +357 99014054 Email:- Trainwithash@hotmail.com

Helen's personal daily practice and ongoing training helps her to understand each person's needs when they join her class

Helen will offer 1-2-1 lessons to help you enhance any aspect of your current knowledge & enjoyment. Please enquire.

Emma Michael took her first yoga class in 1999 and hasn't looked back since. She studied a broad range of Hatha yoga styles experimenting with Iyengar, Kundalini, Vinyasa flow and Jivamukti, but in recent years her practice has gravitated towards the deep awareness of scaravelli and the alignment principles and open heartedness of Anusara. Her first teacher training was in India at the Sivananda Institute (Yoga Alliance 200 hours) and she completes her second in Anusara at Triyoga London in February 2015.

She is a Shiatsu therapist and yoga teacher and her approach is based on her shiatsu and biomechanics background, and her wealth of yoga experience and practice. She offers Hatha Yoga classes using clear alignment principles and classical yoga poses as a foundation for exploring breathing and movement techniques. Her positive approach and cheerful nature helps students feel grounded and confident in their practice whilst increasing their body awareness and sense of ease in their body and minds.

Ursula Avins - Master Crystal Healer, Reiki and Karuna Teacher, Life Coach, Vortex Healer and Alternative Therapist, Ursula has been working with crystals and energy healing since 1992. She trained with leading teachers in the UK and USA including Simon Treselyan (UK), Lesley Carol (UK), Michael Orminston (UK), Shimara Kumara (UK), Melody (USA), Alton Kamon (Aus) and Amorah Quan Yin (USA). She has studied Reiki with various Masters, over the past 9 years incorporating 8 different forms and received her Mastership training in the temples and Pyramids of Egypt. Ursula will be available to give treatments throughout your stay this Spring and Summer. She will also be running workshops in Crystal Healing and Reiki. The Crystal Healing workshops will incorporate the use and properties of crystals for personal development and healing. They will also include meditations, layouts, sound work and information on energy anatomy and colour. Reiki courses include all teaching, manuals and certificates.

Nicky Ashwood - Sivananda-style Tutor and Astanga Tutor. "Yoga is to me like solid ground after after years at sea. When my life has been full of changes and movement, yoga has been my rock. There are many paths, and all lead ultimately to the same place. As with most modern day mystics I have explored many different practices, and found it hard to find one way that I could immerse myself in. Years went by, I searched and experienced many things. The time came when I recognized I wanted to share what I had learned on my journey. To my surprise I came to the realization that yoga had been there all the time, and had slowly slowly transformed me.
Old and trusted, tried and tested...Yoga was a way to share the magic that had helped me heal, and gives me hope for the future. My mother was the first to share her knowledge of yoga with me when I was only 8. Since then I have practised and taught yoga all over the world. A lot of my training took place in South India, but many other great teachers have helped me along the way. In the four years that I've been teaching I've taught at Festivals, in Ashrams, on retreats and yoga holidays. On the beach or in fancy hotels, in the hills of Thailand and the serene beauty of central France, and of course in Cyprus. Yoga has created a sense of continuity and stability in the absence of a permanent home or environment. My life revolves these days around my spiritual practice. At the heart of my spiritual practice is Yoga "

Ann S Klein

Ann has been practising yoga since the age of 19. She had the privilege of being trained by a yogi in her private home over several years - and even had the joy of being given an Indian head massage at the end of her two-hour lesson - followed by home-made Indian cuisine... (not all lessons, since these valued moments, have included such indulgences - but the happy memories live on!!) She opened her holiday retreat company in 1996 because she could not find the quality and variety of services (holistic and also spiritual) that she required.

Through her extensive world travel including wonderful sojourns into mother India, she has sought out the finest therapists, yoga teachers, protocol with medical practitioners available to work with her abroad, and so she can provide a comprehensive health tourism experience for her valued clients.

Ann has a natural gift - from childhood - to see/ intuit colours and to incorporate this system of healing, plus encompassing the complementary areas of her reiki training, crystals training, counselling training and stage one NLP training, into her specialised and complete healing session/ treatments. She is a natural psychic, and only with her client's permission, she will pass on valuable information she is offered for the person she is working with. Ann offers guided colour visualisations as part of her course and in her private working life, outside the retreats. She is always open to her clients and staff, for one to one consultations, and likes to integrate as wide a spectrum of personalities and backgrounds from her valued staff as is available - at any given time - for her holidays.

Therefore through her extensive travels she has gleaned and put together a "hit team" of qualified people from all over the world. She looks forward to meeting you at one of her upcoming holidays, and hopes you will thoroughly enjoy the experience. Namaste!..........

As Buddhism quotes:-"Find at least one good quality in everyone, no matter how many defects are visible to you" and "Flexibility enables me to move with time, slipping through life as gently and as strongly as possible" - Brahma Kumaris

Rebecca Zambetakis - Ananda Marga Yoga Teacher. "I am a yoga teacher with the Ananda Marga school of yoga. Ananda Marga means Path of Bliss and thats exactly what I feel I am walking on. From a child I was always searching for something more, I finally found the truth five years ago when I started yoga and meditation. I found myself, I found inner peace , I found the beauty in life and how we can have a beautiful, healthy life. Wanting to share these things and much more I went on a teacher training course.

Ananda Marga has training around the world, India, America and Europe. My training was in Malta and follow up courses and seminars in Greece and Cyprus. We follow the Ashtaunga system o f yoga and meditation, meaning 'The Eight Limbs' of yoga. With Hatha asanas, breathing excersises, self massage and deep relaxation the class will leave you feeling full of positive energy. Energy from practices that are thousands of years old. Feel wonderful, peacefull, happy from within, where it counts."

Paula Vidakovic I am originally from Croatia, and was born on a lovely Spring day in May in the early 70’s. I spent my teenage years living under a Communist Yugoslavian system – which brought a unique yet interesting life experience, when one looks back!..

I now live in London, where I am living my dream, working hard in my chosen field of Yoga and Pilates, and taking each and every opportunity to travel and bring my teachings with me!

I did not study Yoga to begin with, though I have been a passionate practitioner for well over twelve years....In my previous life I was a journalist, after graduating in Political Science – Journalism and doing a Masters in Communication. My career began in a well-known TV News Agency in London - and it was here that I discovered my career was not fulfilling my dreams or desires... In fact it seemed to be standing for everything I was not!...Always my first love and interests have been sport – Tennis, Table-Tennis... Sliding down hills – aka Skiing, Snowboarding and floating – aka Swimming… and amongst all of these sports and my long working hours – I found myself with even more muscular tension in my body.... So I needed an answer and fast! I therefore decided to explore various other forms of relaxation using exercise and arrived at Yoga. The minute I practised Yoga I instantly fell in love with it! From my very first class, I came back fully stretched in all my muscles, but at the same time I realised I felt calm, centred and completely dazed by what I had just experienced. I had to learn more!...

I have taken up Yoga Teacher Training with the eminent and charismatic Simon Low, at his well respected Yoga Academy and I also attained the British Wheel of Yoga and Yoga Alliance Certification. It changed my life, I have never looked back. The warmth in my heart and the smile on my face are as a result of this. On a “lighter” note – my Birth Number adds up to number “9”. In Numerology – which I did for fun – I suddenly discovered I reflect its “qualities” – it says a No 9 embodies mankind’s highest principles. They are tolerant of all and feel genuine love for everyone. Their compassion and willingness to try to heal others – is boundless... They desire to make people happy, to laugh! and will do all it can to ensure those around them are aware of how grand a gift – “Life” – is...

To summarise – there are a number of magnificent ever inspiring modern teachers, that we have crossed paths – in different parts of the world – for different learning and “growing” experiences.... I am therefore immensely grateful to the wonderful knowledge given to me by Sean Corn (Vinyasa Flow), Baron Baptiste (Power Yoga), Cindy Lee (Hatha Yoga), David Swensen (Ashtanga Yoga), Tias Little (Iyengar Yoga), and Donna Farhi. I bring to each lesson my joy for life – my happy spirit and most of all my love of teaching ....This is me... Namaste to all of you. PAULA